The use of chelating agents to remove hydrogen sulfide from industrial gas streams is known in the art. A problem associated with this use of chelating agents is that most chelating agents are expensive and are degraded during the hydrogen sulfide removal process.
The useful life of a chelating agent solution can be extended by the addition of chemical compounds that retard the degradation of the chelating agents. Such compounds are called stabilizers and have generally been identified by experimentation. The use of stabilizers substantially improves the economics of the hydrogen sulfide removal process.